Laura Dern loves the car wash so much and calls the brushes beautiful


Last week I read an interview with Laura Dern I considered covering in which she talked about the trials of being a single mom. She has son Ellery, 17, and daughter Jaya, 14, with her ex Ben Harper. Laura said something cryptic about it. She said “On the hard days, it’s stressful and there is too much going on as a single parent—and it can be hard to carve out a minute for yourself. I have never had anybody else bully me in my single parenting life.” Is she hinting that her ex was controlling about her parenting? Is that an issue they had? I don’t know. I skipped it because people generally don’t care about her and there was a lot to parse. This story is more fun though. Laura posted an Instagram story in which she was super enthusiastic about going to the car wash. I’ve posted that above [via The Cut] and here’s a partial transcript.

Do I love a car wash. I get so excited. Nothing makes me happier. I think this is the car wash that I came [to] with my grandma when I was little. Honestly my favorite thing is watching the car get washed. That’s fantastic, they’re so beautiful.

I’m sort-of like that about getting ice cream, especially when I find a new place which makes its own. (That happened just last month!) I remember it being such a treat to go out for ice cream when I was a kid, similar to what Laura is saying, and plus I love ice cream. So I try to get my son to go to the ice cream shop with me as often as possible. Also it’s worth paying more for a smaller portion so I don’t eat the whole pint. (The Haagen Dazs crispy trio layers with coconut, caramel and chocolate is amazing. NOT the one with white chocolate.)

We actually don’t have any car washes in my area which vacuum your car for you. I mean the ones which will vacuum your car quickly before running it through the wash, similar to the car wash on Breaking Bad and the one which Laura is using. I’m googling this now so I can find one. There’s a car wash about an hour from me which does this. I live in the sticks so I have to drive to do a lot of things, but at least there’s no traffic here, it’s quite safe and you can always find parking. Now I have another thing to look forward to this weekend. I didn’t know I wanted to get a car wash, but Laura sold me on it. I’m going to dinner and then we’ll get ice cream after at the new place!

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photos credit: Avalon.red

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18 Responses to “Laura Dern loves the car wash so much and calls the brushes beautiful”

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  1. Janey says:

    She’s my idol for ageing gracefully. She still looks natural, happy in her skin. I have nothing to add about getting my car washed.

    • Esmom says:

      She really does look great. I just started watching Big Little Lies and the contrast between her (and Reese’s) natural looks vs. Nicole Kidman’s immobile face and wig is striking. Nicole’s face is unfortunately distracting.

    • Silvie says:

      I love her so much. And you’re right, she looks her age but strong and healthy. I think Nicole’s starting to look like a ghoul made out of paper and wax.

  2. pamplonas says:

    Ben Harper cheated on her constantly and publicly so yeah, it wasn’t a great relationship.

    She’s so lovely.

    • Sierra says:

      He also cheated with Laura while he was married to his first wife.

      Laura also got together with Billy Bob while he was married.

      No sympathy for Laura in that regard but otherwise, I like her and her choices in movies and tv shows. She is an excellent actress who really sells the character.

    • Rosewater says:

      Before Ben Harper, there was Billy Bob Thornton, Jeff Goldblum, Renny Harlin (with the last two, she did a switcheroo with Geena Davis) and Kyle MacLachlan.

      She seems nice and I genuinely loved her in “Big, Little Lies” as well as “Enlightened” but she seems to have a knack for hooking up with problematic men.

  3. Dal says:

    Loved her in big little lies !

  4. manda says:

    I can relate to this! And the childhood memories! My dad and I used to take the cars to various places. One of them let you stay inside while it went through the wash, which I LOVED. The one that we went to like the one in Laura’s video had windows like that, a pretty extensive air freshener collection, and the nicest workers. There is also something about a newly cleaned car.

    I love this video. I love it when people let you into their weird little things, it’s actually pretty brave. I would worry that most people would think it’s (or I’m) weird

  5. lucy2 says:

    I never take my car through them, but car washes are oddly satisfying to watch!

  6. Charfromdarock says:

    I love going through the car wash!

    • Tiffany says:

      Me too. The full service ones are few and far between now and days but when you find one, and they let you sit in the car as it goes through….it is just so relaxing. It feels like a break from another chore you have to do yourself.

      • Ali says:

        There was a full service one five minutes from my old house and I was there once a month. We moved and the closest one is in the next city over (we live in the sticks). It’s been two years and I’m still so bummed about that loss.

  7. Esmom says:

    This is funny. I used to love them, too, when I was a kid. My husband says to avoid them because they supposedly scratch the car. Although I sometimes do use them in the dead of winter when the salt crust gets too unbearable. We’re lucky we have an affordable place that does it by hand. But usually my husband does it himself, he says he finds it relaxing.

  8. Bettyrose says:

    Going thru the car wash with my pup is one of life’s greatest joys. She’s fascinated…she’s scared…but wait, sort of fascinated? I have too many pics of this on Facebook.

  9. JanetFerber says:

    I love her. Loved her mini-series about an employee blowing the whistle on her company, written by and co-starring Bob? White. BRILLIANT. (Sorry, forgot the name of it.) Just looked it up. It’s called Enlightened. Loved it and her.

  10. Elizabeth says:

    I absolutely love how pure this is.

  11. Kosmos says:

    I think Big Little Lies was kind of brilliant….I’m actually watching it for the second time. I hope they make another series as good as this, especially with the fantastic female cast, wow. About the car wash brushes, I’m kind of a car detail fanatic and I can tell you that those brushes will kill the finish on your car. ALWAYS hand wash if you car about your car enough. Also, the car wash towels that are used will also kill your finish. Use only Microfiber towels if you care. This wasn’t meant to be a lesson in car detailing, but just had to comment on that lol.